Poverty

So in class we have been reading about poverty. I think that poverty really shouldn't be happening, we could fix it! Lots of people don't even realize that poverty isn't just in places like Africa. Poverty is probably in your own neighbourhood, but mainly in big cities. It's true that poverty is at it's worst it places like Africa or Iraq, but it's still there. I was surprised to see that every year a child dies before their fifth birthday. Also, in the USA 17% of children live in poverty.

In class we also read these stories about teenagers that went to Kenya, Africa and Sierra Leone. A girl named Kamara, who lives in Sierra Leone talks about how her family lived in hiding, living in a bush. They saw awful things wherever they went. What if you and your family lived like that? Without your house, clean water, good food, a bed. I definitely don't know what I would be like if I lived like that, it would be such a hard life. They can't even get away from it! That's how they live, everyday, every night. We also read a story about a boy named Jason, when he was 12 he visited Kenya as a volunteer. While he was there he met two young girls who lived there in poverty, yet seemed happy. Of course they both spoke different languages, so it wouldn't have been easy to communicate. Jason tried talking to them by yelling: "Hi!" at them, but instead the girls got scared and hid. Then Jason went over to get some water, which they don't normally have, but they had because there were many visitors. The girls were overjoyed when they saw that there was clean water. Clean water is a normal thing for us, if we want water we just go into the kitchen, grab a cup and fill it up with water. There we go, but for them if they want water they have to take a big barrel and go down to a river or lake. Even from the river where they get their water it still isn't clean. Think about it, animals drink and swim in there. Imagine having to drink from there, having to do all that and drink from a dirty lake. Most of us have never done that or will have to do that in our life. For those kids it's what they do everyday.

We also read a story about a girl named Charlotte who helped work in a school in Africa. There was a young boy who seemed even less privileged than the others. His name was Benet, he was very short and skinny. One day he was so sick that he was coughing up blood. Charlotte took him out of the classroom and talked to him. He didn't seem to want the attention, he was probably used to being ignored. Benet had pulled out a bottle of water and boasted it was from the ocean, Charlotte compared it to her own water bottle, which also had water in it, the two looked very different. Benet's was more brown or green and Charlotte's was clear. Benet thought she was drinking some sort of pop, like Sprite or 7 Up. His water was from the Maasai ocean, where animals drank, went to the washroom, where people bathed, washed clothes and yet they also drank from there. I can't even imagine drinking from there, but to him it was what he always drank from.

After reading these I realized how lucky I am, to not have to drink gross water or hide in a bush, seeing dead bodies around my street. I live in a home, drink clean water, have good food and go to a great school. These children have never had any of that. I can't imagine living like that, can you?

-Fiona XOX